·.Challging'face:'.9J · 1~ga1 :educltioll

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STAREDU, SUN DAV 12 SEPTEMBER 2021

Opinion · 7

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PUTERI SOFIA - educate

@thestar.com.my

··.Challging'face:'.9J · 1~ga1 :educltioll

Live&Learn: :

Need fo~ law students to be equipped with future skills to bridge tech~ological g·ap

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^{SKILLS IN} ^DEMAND

THE Malaysia Digit~l Economy

Blueprint, or MyD_igital, -~as . , -,.. , . high-value work and to provide ·

launched early this year

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^{a bi~- ·} ^" .. better client experience.-• , ... '. ·

t~ ~ansform the country mto a _ ~ - , -. The impact of these profound

digitll:1}y-en~ble_d and tech~olo- . , ' <1. , - disruptive changes to the legal

gy-dnven h1~-mcome !1,ati_ox:i-, as . -.i profession and the judiciary

well as a regional lead m digital . ~ - • ,, emphasises the need for law stu-

economy by 2030. · . . - · , · / ⁰ · ' dents to equip themselves with ,

The F?~ lndus~al ,, • : · . future skills to bridge the techno-,

_ Revolution 1s resh~pm~ how &ov- _ · logical gap, prior to stepping out

_ ernments, eco!l?rmes, m~ustnes .. · ,

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into the real work environment -

and even traditional busmesse_s . • be it in legal practice, in-house

~ark. AII_nos~ every ;aspe<:t of life : -~ . . practice or the judiciary. .

1s beco1:n1;11g mcreasmgly _rmpact- , ·, & • 1 The future oflegal education is

ed by digital trar:i-sformation, and ? already here. Most legal institu- _.,,

law 1s no e~ceptio~. - : _ .. , ,. •.; , , . · ·, , tions have integrated technological

· CUrrently, there approxi- , .. .,. · and multidisciplinary approaches

mately 20,000praCtisUlg lawyers m into their law modules to remain ,

Malaysia, with the ratio of almost _ . . . __ · . . current and relevant.

one lawyer to every_l,600 citizens. . Trend of the times: Legal education is undergoing change to Some legal institutions have , -. · The number is expected·to ,, · •·_, redefine how law is being taught. - 123rf.com introduced a new legal curriculum

_growandsowouldcompetition -."·. - . __ . _ . . . . _ frameworktoencouragelawstu-

among legal service prt>viders to ;_' :_ . Despite the restrictions posed :· judiciary is said to explore the use dents to acquire skills in the field serve the public. -, - by the pandemic, the wheels of of artificial intelligence (AI) in oflegal technology, including con- -The emergence of the Covid-19 :- jusp.ce continue to turn, as the _ · implementing a sentencing guide- ducting electronic-based legal , _

· pandemic has caused a seismic - judiciary has non-hesitantly . " _line at the Kuala Lumpur and Shah _ . research, virtual mooting, virtual ~-

·-· shift in the delivery oflegal servic- ·_ _embraced new digital platforms. Alam lower courts to g,etermine · clinical education, and virtual · es and-accelerated digital transfor- '-.. -- The judiciary has also conducted _ the measure of punishments for .: -- .immersive learning using neu- _.

mation within the field as lawyers . -,- virtual remote hearings and virtu- · physical and sexual assault, theft . •· ro-linguistic programming, gamifi-

en, customer-centric, and collabo- rative across industries and disci- plines, to be able to add value to . the legal ecosystem. .

- In fact, law students

are

^also

. encouraged to sharpen their com-

•, mercial savviness and advocacy skills as these traits can neither be

· replaced by AI nor automated. a-

These skills will equip law students for bigger roles such as those of crisis managers, legal . process designers, supply chain

· experts, data analysts, risk managers, entrepreneurs, legal tech- nologists and beyond. ·· ·

As lawyers and the judiciary continue to harness technology

· in the new norm, it is foreseea- ble that this trend will accelerate further even after the pandemic

· subsides.. - ·

Legal education is u.ndergoing change to red~fine how law is being taught. Hence, law students must keep up with the . changes and cultivate technological skills to supplement their ,

• academic studies. · _ · . This woulg, give them a com~' petitive edge as they become the - lawyers of tomorrow, best pre- pared for success.

. turned to cloud computing, con- ·: c -: al appeal proceedings during the of property, drug possessions and. _ cation, augmented reality, virtual _ tract review, smart contract, e-dis- -pandemic using various video-con- - traffic violations. . _ reality and mixed reality. _

· covery, and virtual collaboration ferencing platforms. · These technological advance- -•"/ ·., - ' , These features not only-embed ·

· As articulated by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat,

"Embracing technology and its advancement is not easy, but

· tools to.continue providing legal . _-.. - The effectiveness of such. : .-. ments involving AI, algorithm, humanisation elements in shap- . services.dllring the lockdown, · meas~es is evident froID: th~ _, machin~ lea~g and_automation ing law s?Idents'. soft skills in the On the same note, the •.' · · · statistics released by the JUdic1- - are making their way mto the legal . -. real and rmmers1ve world, but Malaysian judiciary has "· - · ary last May where ~2,~21 civil , · profe~ion and th~ judiciary. _ also improv~ s~dents' self-di-- -• embarked on digitalising court : cases and 118,541 cnrmnal cases .· AI lS already bemg employed to rected learnmg m this.era of

processes with the introduction - _ were successfully disposed of assist judges in providing sentenc~ ._',. transformation. ,•, ---- - ·. ,, .:::

of the Case Management System .' , _ during the enforcement-of the • - - ing and soon, the merits of using - Reading law today is no longer '. , _: (CMS), the Court·Recording and · movement control order. · ' technology_to automate certain · . · about memorising the law, but

Transcribing (CRT) system, the ·. - This exemplifies the Malaysian ' legal tasks such as document

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requires students to embrace Queue Management System judiciary's agility in adopting · . . ing, review and analysis will ·· r , ; : future attributes such

as

^digital ^.

(QMS), e-registration, e-filing/ .. , · advanced technology fo provide : relieve lawyers of standardised, and technological know-how; strac e-payment, e-appeal, e-review . wider access to court. : . routine and repetitive tasks, allow- · tegic thinking, creative prob- · and e-jamin, to name a few. ·_ · In a recent report, the Malaysian ing them to focus more on !em-solving, and being output-driv-

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everyone will have-to adopt a new mindset and be ready to moveJorward." · Puterl Sofia Amlmudclln Is a senior · lecturer, Master of Laws

programme director, and Centre for lndustrial•,Revolutlon and Innovation chief project officer at Taylor's Law

School, Faculty of Business and Law, Taylor's University. The views expressed here are the writer's

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